Anglican Church urged to stop excluding people

A Sri Lankan bishop has urged conservative members of the Anglican Church to stop trying to exclude people because of their perceived faults.

The appeal was made at a service in Canterbury Cathedral in southern England, which was attended by Anglican leaders taking part in the 10-yearly Lambeth Conference.

In his sermon, the Bishop of Colombo, Duleep de Chickera, acknowledged the absence of a quarter of the communions 880 bishops adding that mending the rift over sexuality would be a long and arduous task.

He rebuked those traditionalists who have tried to exclude others from the communion, saying that if Anglicans tried to uproot the unrighteous, there would quickly be no one left.

Bishop de Chickera reminded Anglicans that the Church's first priority should be working against injustice in the world.